I am happy today to celebrate my wonderful state of South Carolina, and the wonderful diversity here, not the least of which is expressed in alpaca genetics!
My brother lives near an alpaca farm in upstate SC, in Inman. When I visited two years ago I was happy to discover that the owner had a shop. The shop was HUGE with a vast supply of commercial yarn, but what I zoomed in on was the yarn from their own alpacas. Here is the creative result:
My brother lives near an alpaca farm in upstate SC, in Inman. When I visited two years ago I was happy to discover that the owner had a shop. The shop was HUGE with a vast supply of commercial yarn, but what I zoomed in on was the yarn from their own alpacas. Here is the creative result:
Carolina Bell Shawlette
Have you found yourself in a yarn store picking up…say 3 skeins
of yarn, one of a contrasting color to the other two, that you thought were
beautiful with no plan in mind?
Well…here’s the plan…
This is a shawlette with vertical garter stripes and a lace
border. My finished shawlette is 60
inches in width and in 13 inches in length at the longest point.
Yarn Requirements: 3
skeins of yarn, two of the same color (color A), and one of a second color (color
B). I used 3 skeins of alpaca from a local (in state) alpaca farm. For me, this was Northwoods Farm in Inman,
SC. I had 2 skeins of 183 yards each in Carolina
Bell (neutral) and 1 skein from Guyson, 210 yards(chocolate brown). Each skein was 4 ounces.
I used half of color B for half the striped section of the
shawl.
My shawlette is very heavy and warm in the yarn I used, however
you could use a lighter weight yarn and looser stitch at the same gauge and
produce a lighter, more summery shawlette.
Gauge: Knit a gauge
swatch with your yarn and find a fabric drape using garter stitch with the size
needle that pleases you. My gauge in
garter stitch for the body of the shawl is 5 stitches per inch. I used a size 3
circular needle. Be warned however: if you stray from my yardage, gauge, and
yarn halving technique, you may need more or less yarn, so be sure to use the
technique here:
Yarn halving technique for
Color B: take your skein of color B. You can do this by weighing it and wind two
balls of half the whole weight. If you have a yarn measuring tool, you can use
that.
Directions:
Cast on 10 stitches in color A.
1)
Knit 1 row Color A
2)
Knit 1 row Color A
3)
Knit 1 row Color B
4)
With color B, k1, increase 1 by loop method,
finish row in knit.
Continue in this way until you have 52 stitches. Continue
knitting straight: 2 rows color A and 2 rows color B. When you have used half
of color B, or perhaps a little less to be on the safe side, begin decreasing:
1)
Knit 1 row Color A
2)
Knit 1 row Color A
3)
Knit 1 row Color B
4)
With Color B, decrease one stitch by psso method
(slip one, knit one, passed slipped stitch over knitted stitch) and finish row
with Color B.
When you have returned to 10 stitches on the needle, bind
off loosely.
Lace border: at this point you should have a serious
amount of Color A left for the lace border, which is done in garter lace. Proceed with the lace border this
way:
With the shawl on
your left, right side up and lower edge in your lap, with the same size needle
that you used for the body of the shawl:
Cast on 4 stitches onto left needle.
Row 1: S1, k1, yo, k1, pickup stitch from in between the
garter ribs, knit that stitch together with the 5th cast on stitch.
With all odd rows, continue picking up a stitch between knit “ribs” and knitting 2 together for the final stitch.
Row 2 and all even rows through row 16: turn and knit.
Row 3: S1, k1, yo, k2, knit last stitch together with stitch
picked up from shawl border.
Row 5: S1, k1, yo, k3, knit last stitch together with stitch
picked up from shawl border.
Row 7: S1, k1, yo, k4, knit last stitch together with stitch
picked up from shawl border.
Row 9: S1, k2 tog, yo, k2 tog, k2, knit last stitch together
with stitch picked up from shawl border.
Row 11: S1, k2 tog, yo, k2 tog, k1, knit last stitch
together with stitch picked up from shawl border.
Row 13: S1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, knit last stitch together with
stitch picked up from shawl border
Row 15: S1, k2tog, k1, knit last stitch together with stitch
picked up from shawl border.
Here is a graph if you prefer:
You may need to “fudge” a bit to add or subtract stitches
that you pick up to end the lace at the end of the shawl.
